


Aftermath: The Legacy

by Nyssa23



Series: The Aftermath Trilogy [2]
Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Absent Characters, Character of Color, Families of Choice, Gen, Memories
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-08-22
Updated: 2010-08-22
Packaged: 2017-10-11 04:55:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/108643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nyssa23/pseuds/Nyssa23
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As the cultists build, Jake Sisko thinks about what his father meant to himself, to Kasidy, and to Bajor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Aftermath: The Legacy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Neth Dugan (Nethdugan)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nethdugan/gifts).



> A sequel to the original "Aftermath," sadly late, but I hope close to the original in quality.

Jake Sisko had not signed up for this. His father was the Starfleet captain, designer and first commander of the Defiant, decorated hero of the Dominion War; his father was the Emissary of the Prophets. Not Jake. And yet, here Jake was, faced with having to deal with the fallout of his father's fame, his father's actions, his father's absence.

After his mother died and before his father had been assigned to Utopia Planitia, Jake had been to church a few times in New Orleans with his grandfather, and what he had heard there just didn't square with the truths of his life as he now knew them. Like it or not, the Bajorans had treated his father as an agent of their gods; now that Benjamin Sisko had gone to join those gods, it followed that some would worship him as a god himself. By the rules set down in that old church with the faded altar cloths the elderly congregants refused to consign to a matter-reclamation unit, such a thing should not have been possible. And yet, here Jake was.

Sometimes Jake longed for his mother in a way he felt was quite unbecoming for a man. She would know what to do, he thought, although truthfully, he wasn't sure of that as soon as he formed the words. His mother had been gone so long, it was easy for him to imagine her as much more than she had been. More than human. Like his father. Sometimes Jake felt that his memories of simpler times with both his parents were fading, replaced with dream-images of his father in the glow, the nowhere and never-time of the Prophets. Jake still had difficulty wrapping his mind around the fact that his father's life had been planned from conception by the Prophets. What did that mean for him? What did it mean for his mother? Had Jennifer Sisko lived, had she died, for nothing more than to bring the Emissary to Bajor?

Jake knew he wasn't alone, not really. He and Kasidy were family now. She said so herself, whenever she invited Jake for dinner (replicated--Kas had learned her lesson after that disastrous attempt to cook) or told him of the newest exploits of her brother Kyle on Cestus III. And, thanks to Kasidy, Jake would finally get the younger sibling he'd always wanted. If only Kas weren't so old-fashioned about not wanting to know the baby's gender! Where she got all those weird old ideas Jake would never understand, but he knew it was one of the things that had endeared her to his father.

And of course, there was good old Nog, still his roommate and closest friend despite Nog's promotion and increased duties aboard DS9. Nog had helped broker Jake's deal with Quark to write some new holodeck adventures for a percentage of the proceeds. As luck would have it, both of the adventures Jake had written, _Far Beyond the Stars_ and _Hero of the Dominion War_, had garnered some gold-pressed latinum for the Noh-Jay Consortium. The Federation's credit system was all well and good, but Jake had noticed that there were times, out here on the frontier, that cash came in handy. Quark was now pressing him to deliver a series of adventures based on the life of the Emissary in an attempt to entice Bajoran pilgrims to spend more freely, but Jake wasn't sure he was ready for that yet.

Jake couldn't help smiling at Kasidy as she stood looking out at the Bajoran crew building Ben Sisko's dream house. Absently, she swatted away the anxious cultists fanning her and imploring her to sit down. Noticing Jake's sidelong glance at her, Kasidy stopped, smiling tentatively back at him. "What?"

"Nothing, Kas...it's just--" Jake looked into her eyes, then suddenly felt as if words would never stop spilling out of his mouth. "This whole thing, it's weird. How did they find out about this house? Do they really expect you to live here? And why would they think just building it would bring Dad back?" If that was all it took, Jake thought ruefully, he would have built the damn thing himself, months ago.

His words trailed off as Kasidy took his elbow and led him a short distance away from the cultists, whom she dispelled with a shushing gesture and a gracious smile. Jake felt a sudden rush of sympathy for her; sometimes he forgot that Kas's struggle was at once more public and more private than his. He remembered the day she had made the sad decision to dock the Xhosa and part with her crew; all the unwelcome attention had practically killed her business anyway. Benjamin Sisko's departure might have left him an orphan, but it had left Kasidy Yates-Sisko in limbo--married without a husband, widowed without a funeral, alone in quarters big enough for a family. She was the one who could hardly walk down the Promenade without visiting pilgrims craning their necks, stretching out their hands, trying to touch a small part of the Emissary's legacy.

Kasidy took both Jake's hands in hers and looked at him with bright eyes. "It's all right, Jake," she said clearly, her voice tinged with sadness. "Let them build if it makes them happy." She leaned closer to him. "Your father never wanted to be a god, but he loved Bajor, and he loved these people. If he returns, let them think it was for them."


End file.
